The Secret to Good English

I am frequently asked;

What is the secret to good English?

There is no finite answer to the question. Some may say practice while the others believe it is the quality of English heard (be the daily English used by parents or the English used by teachers). Indeed, some students do blame their English teacher's poor proficiency for their bad English. 

Students have the right to blame the teachers. There are studies proving the case.

Other factors contributing to poor L2 acquisition and academic achievement in township schools and rural areas are: lack of access to newspapers, magazines, TV and radio; lack of opportunity to hear or to speak English; lack of English reading material at home and at school; and poor language teaching by teachers whose own English proficiency is limited.

(Nel & Muller, 2010) 

In many Malaysian classrooms, class' English teacher is the students' main/sole input (English) provider making the only English they hear and listen to is their English teacher's.

From Figure 10.3 (The ecology of language acquisition), it can be inferred that in many contexts where the need of English isn't prominent, the source for students' seeds of predisposition is the English used by their English teachers. Thus, problems arose when the teachers have limited English proficiency.

Messy and fragmentary input, making abstract concepts based on limited examples of language are the logical problems of language learning,

(Chomsky quoted in Mitchell & Myles, 2004)

Worst, Stander (p 110-111, 2001) concludes in his study:

[...] teachers’ L2 (English) forms are transferred to their ESL learners’ language forms and reflect the teachers’ poor English language proficiency.

Students can go on blaming the teachers for their bad English. They have the right to do so. 

However, students have to try to understand the totalitarian education system we are having in Malaysia. There is an abundance number of teachers who are made to teach English despite their limited English language proficiency and their lack of English language teaching knowledge. I have witnessed these teachers, those who are made to teach English, having cold feet everytime they have to teach English. I have these teachers coming to me asking me to help them with their English. I have these teachers crying on my shoulder complaining how worse their teaching are and how worried they are with the probable future impacts.

All English teachers that I know, be the optionist or the non-optionist, work very hard to educate their students. At least, to make sure that the students score the very best for their examination.

Having good English teachers is a credit but it is not the secret to good English.

When I was in school, my English wasn't very good. When I was in my foundation year, my English wasn't very good. I used to bite my lips every time I was asked to answer things in English. I didn't have the confidence. I didn't want to be the class' laughing stock.

However, throughout the long years of learning English, I have finally found the secret to good English. I have to warn you that this secret will only work to those who really wants to have good English.

The secret is: Diligence

Language is tricky. The skills to a language can be decreased whenever there is an insufficient use of the language. In short, if you don't practice, or use the language, you will then lose the proficiency. We call it language attrition.

Thus, this calls for diligence. Start taking responsibility for your own English language learning. 

Have an English book in your bag so that when you have to wait for your food or for your sister who seems to take a longer hour in the loo, you can take out the book and read. Please don't carry Harry Potter thick novels around. Pick a handy one. Yes, you can read online yet there are a lot of distractions there. No one can resist the urgency to click on the Facebook icon when a Facebook notification pops out. Listen to documentaries in English. Falling asleep while watching is normal. I do that a lot too especially when it is my partner's turn to watch the gadgets and designs. If possible, go on to Youtube and watch English vlogs. It is fun listening to people of different accents. Trust me, you will then try to pick up the accent and use it in your everyday conversation; just don't overdo it. For adults who are still trying to improve their English, enroll in online English courses. I am a fan of Coursera. There are a lot of courses that suit your needs.

In short. Be diligent. Take responsibility for your own English language learning. 

If there is a secret to good English, it is diligence.

And worry not. Diligence isn't a personality type. It is a skill that can be learned and acquired.